The Sidney Sun-Telegraph - Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper

Train Crossing Accidents Preventable

Union Pacific engineer Jon Briggs guides a locomotive over the tracks on the east side of Sidney recent. The exercise was done to show the public and law enforcement how drivers do not always respect the train crossings.

It is a sound that pierces the night sky, echoing across an empty prairie or between peaks as if bouncing off of both sides of a canyon's walls.

Drivers and nearby homeowners complain about it... until it saves their life. It is the bell, the blaring horn, the flashing lights and at some locations the black and white wooden arms crossing the road encouraging drivers to stop, Most drivers stop, some make other decisions that can result in injury or death.

The Union Pacific recently conducted an exercise in Sidney reminding drivers of the dangers associated with a train crossing. The exercise...